Some people simply look in the yellow pages under psychologists. Although this will work, it is probably not the best method. There is no guarantee that the person you end up with is going to be a good match with you and will be effective with the particular problem yu want addressed. One of the most common ways to fnd a psychologist is by word of mouth. Ask around to see if one of your friends or acquaintances has experience with one of the local psychologists. If they have had a good experience with someone, perhaps they will be someone who can help with your problem.

However, you might want to check to see if the problem your friend had is the same one you want to have treated. If not, you don't really know if that psychologist has any skill in the area you want addressed. Also, your friend may have had a good experience, but that doesn't mean that you will have good results.

How do you know that the person you are dealing with is qualified to practice within the field of Psychology? Each province within Canada has a College of Psychologists. Checking to see if the psychologist is registered with the provincial College is helpful for a couple of reasons. First, it will tell you that the person has met generally accepted standards of training in the field. Second, it means that the psychologist has not had serious complaints against them that would cause their registration to be withdrawn. In most provinces it is an offence to advertise oneself as a psychologist if one is not a registered or certified member of the provincial College of Psychologists.

Individuals who have used a particular psychologist may have experience with one or two psychologists, but their experience is limited. If you can find out whether people who have more experience with a variety of psychologists refer to this person, that is likely your best measure of effectiveness. Some family physicians have experience with more than one psychologist, and they can be a good source of information. If insurance case managers refer to a particular person, this can be a very good indication that the person has been effective over time with a variety of people. You can obtain this information for free on the zappointments.com website. When you look for a listing of local psychologists, click on the "number booked" link. This will tell you how many and what types of referrals a psychologist has had in the past. In British Columbia, the BC Psychological Association runs a referral service, where each psychologist who is a member of the referral service specifies what types of problems they feel most qualified to deal with. This is not a guarantee that they will be effective, but it is a rough guide to what types of problems they have dealt with in the past.

Finding a psychologist is easy, but finding the right one for you is more difficult. You can find a local psychologist quickly by looking under your province and city on zappointments.com, but be sure to look at the "info about" link to see what the person says about her- or himself on their website, as well as looking at the "number booked" link to see what types of referrals they have had in the past. Psychologists who have had a large number of referrals through lawyers, insurance, police, military, or government agencies are probably doing a good job for these referring agencies. Finally, you can contact the psychologist by telephone or secure messaging system on zappointments.com. You can register for free on the website and them use the secure messaging system. If you do not register, the psychologist will not be able to reply using the system. Do not use email, as it is not secure and the psychologist is not likely able to reply using email without violating confidentiality rules.

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